Human and organizational factors influence software quality

A new doctoral dissertation by Frank Philip Seth at LUT (Lappeenranta University of Technology) proposes that human factors involved in the software development processes will determine the quality of the products developed. However, the results of the study also suggest that tools, infrastructure and other resources also have a positive impact on software quality, and the methods of development were found to bring little effect on software quality. According to the research the software quality is an information-intensive process whereby organizational structures, mode of operation, and information flow within the company variably affect software quality.

The results suggest that software development managers influence the productivity of developers and the quality of the software products. Several challenges of software testing that affect software quality are also brought to light. The findings of this research are expected to benefit the academic community and software practitioners by providing an insight into the issues pertaining to software quality construction undertakings.

Software quality has become an important research subject, not only in the Information and Communication Technology spheres, but also in other industries at large where software is applied. Software quality is not a happenstance; it is defined, planned and created into the software product throughout the Software Development Life Cycle.

The research objective of Seth's study is to investigate the roles of human and organizational factors that influence software quality construction. The study employs the Straussian grounded theory. The empirical data has been collected from 13 software companies, and the data includes 40 interviews.